


Strange Beginnings

by Dippy Eggs (Dippy_Eggs)



Category: Doctor Strange (2016), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: F/M, Friendship, Original Character(s), Original Female Character(s) - Freeform, Slow Romance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-12-11
Updated: 2018-12-10
Packaged: 2019-09-16 03:41:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 7,177
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16946304
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dippy_Eggs/pseuds/Dippy%20Eggs
Summary: When it turns out that the one person you need to fix a problem had been exiled from the Earth nearly 20 years prior... Can you bring them back?The Masters of the Mystic Arts find themselves in a pickle as magical artifacts go haywire, the last known enchanter was exiled as the practice of creating new magical artifacts was outlawed. When they go to ask him for help, they find the Sorcerer Supreme had even more tricks up her sleeve after death.Stephen's only question now is...When you bring them back, can you keep them?





	1. Strange Beginning

     "Let me get this straight.... There's only one Master who can fix this mess, and you exiled him!?" Doctor Stephen Strange pinched the bridge of his nose, annoyed by this news. There were no books on earth on finalizing the wards on the London Sanctum... You would think this would be important, but the building was technically a giant relic itself that housed London's magical artifacts and other dangerous relics... And for whatever reason, years and years ago... There was a ban on creating new relics or magical artifacts. The Books were sealed and locked away then, and were now gone, exiled with the last Master of Mystic Arts who dared learn the forbidden magic. Strange understood why the creation of new relics was banned, he had a hard enough time keeping up with the ones in his sanctum and the collection was growing. They were dangerous in the general population and there were enough as it was. "Who the hell thought it was a good idea to ban learning relic creation entirely? Why not just ban actual creation of relics? This would be good information for the head of every Sanctum to know." he un-pinched his nose and waved away the question answers that bubbled up from the small collection of Masters he was seated with.

  
     Doctor Strange was in an impromptu meeting with other top masters from Kamar-Taj and the leading Master of the Hong Kong Sanctum, Master Minoru. The London Sanctum had not had a Master appointed to it yet but they had an idea on who they were going to assign once it was ready. It had been a Year and nearly three months since the building was destroyed. They had relocated much of the artifacts between the two remaining sanctums and the Eye of Agamotto was now stored in a recreated room in the Kamar-Taj. The artifacts that had been damaged were contained within wards, unstable and unusable. Spirits had escaped books and were missing, most of the creatures had been recaptured and stored in other vessels, more than one demon had been set loose upon the sanctums destruction and were still on the loose, but were laying low. The spells designed to make the building rejoin the other two sanctums and create the shield... Were not holding to the building. Something was missing and older Masters remember there being a lot more to it than a couple of Mystic Masters laying hands on the building and chanting. The rooms were infused with power, but nothing was activating like it was supposed to. This, they had all went over with Stephen before they awkwardly admitted to banishing the one person who could help, along with all the books they needed to avoid this situation from happening.

  
     "It was Master Sion wasn't it?" voiced Wong from the side of the small gathering. He was nodding to himself. "I remember there was a big stink about it. No knowledge is forbidden here, not anymore. But there was an unspoken rule to leave locked books alone." he shifted his weight meeting Master Minorus sharp gaze. "I seem to remember the Ancient one being reluctant to exile him." he added, Stephen watched the female Masters eyes soften. Well, that was interesting, but not important at the moment.

  
     "Why are you all telling me this? Let's go get this Master Sion back so you can all beg for his forgiveness and I hope... I hope he's a nice guy." Stephen turned on the ball of his feet to lead the way outside, asking over his shoulder. "Where did you stash him? How long has he been gone?" the Masters behind him exchanged glances.

 

_______________

Dimension 11411 616 Planet Alfsidion

     Master Hamir stepped through the glowing portal first. It was deemed that way since he had been friends with Master Sion before he had been exiled... He was the best choice to lead the party into unknown territory. Stephen had already learned that Minoru had not been a master at that time. She couldn't have been, she would have been 5 years old. The Master Sion they were looking for was supposedly alive, though they had dumped him on an uninhabited planet.... Eighteen years ago. That might not seem a very long time, but Master Sion... It turns out... Had been 86 years old. Everyone insisted he had been in good shape. Shtephen however, was so done with these people. When he followed Hamir and was followed by Minoru, they closed the portal. Doctor Strange did not want trouble, and bringing a whole crowd of sorcerers from another dimension might draw notice from nearby planets.

     They weren't far off from the Nine Realms that he vaguely knew Thor's people were from. As soon as he stepped through, he was put off by the fact he felt heavier, the gravitational pull was very different here, much stronger. This wasn't his first time on another planet, but being on one so vastly different from his own was new, his companions we also caught off guard by the gravitational difference. It was quite significant. A majority of the skys view was taken up by a large planet with rings that partially eclipsed one sun, while another was rising or setting on the horizon. It should have been umbarably bright, but the atmosphere here seemed to be thick enough to keep much of the heat out. The air didn't even feel like oxygen, it was soupy and it was hot. Humidity caused sweat to form on each of them before the portal closed. They had arrived in what looked like a jungle, but Strange could hear crashing waves as if they were on the edge of the sea.

     "I wouldn't touch anything here...." Hamir spoke quietly. "These plants could be poisonous..." he clarified when Strange and Minoru turned to look at him. Keeping that in mind, the Cloak of Levitation seemed to tuck closer to Doctor Strange. They let Hamir lead the way forward, seeing a well worn path was cut into the jungle of sorts. Something screamed in the distance and more closely things slithered or whipped away from the path as they walked. Shortly the steady sound of a 'swish' ending with a slight thud could be heard in the distance as they came upon what Strange would later dub 'The Hut' because that was essentially what it was. It was well made, quaint and rustic could be terms another person would use, but Doctor Strange had a hard time not turning his nose up at the floor of packed dirt that was covered with dried grasses. He felt like they had stepped back in time, though the place hummed with Eldritch magic and something else he couldn't name. To one side of the humble home was what had to be the kitchen area, open aired, only partially covered there was a firepit and an oven of some sorts that reminded him of a clay bake oven back on earth, but the material used to make this one was black and glittery. There were unrecognizable herbs drying over what seemed to be the hearth, though it didn't look like it got much use. The bed was a grass stuffed mattress. Nothing else was worth looking at other than a series of pictures pinned to the wall over the bed. Hamir approached them and pointed at one with his good hand. It was an older drawing if the yellowing of the paper said anything in this world, but a very good one.

     “This is Sion. It's a perfect likeness of him.” Hamir stated. The other two masters leaned closer to look. Strange cut his eyes to Hamir and back to the Portrait. It kinda looked like him with a longer beard and no hair, but he wasn't going to point that out. Master Sion looked like what anyone would picture if you said 'Ancient One'. He looked tired, but the artist had captured a noble sort of pride in his eyes and a bit of amusement in his slight smile, he appeared to be wearing black robes, but without color, it was just a speculation. “I never knew Sion to be artistic though.” Hamir added quietly, “He played a Xiao very well, but never had a hand for capturing images like this.”

  
Minoru cleared her throat and pointed to a cracked wooden flute on a crudely built shelf next to a stack of books. There were more books lined along a slightly raised platform next to the bed. Doctor Strange picked up one of the books and cracked it open, He was surprised to find it was handwritten in clear English. A translated book of the Mystic arts covering the basics it looked like. He replaced the book and stepped back.

     “It looks like Sion took on some new hobbies in his years of isolation.” Strange commented as he left the building. “But where is he now.” Hamir looked doubtful behind him but said nothing. They followed their ears to find the only steady sound they had heard. Behind the hut the Jungle was tamed. Cut back a fair distance, the center held a beautiful garden filled with exotic plants that would never be found on earth.There was a stream that had a stone bed that dropped several times to form little waterfalls and ended in a pool near their feet.

     By now all of their eyebrows were in their hairlines... or in Hamirs case, where his hairline was before receding. A closer look showed most of the plants had fruit or leaves that had clearly been harvested in some areas. There was also what looked like soft purple pumpkins with corn sprouting from the tops in random locations through the garden. They walked through the garden quietly, passing a small zen rock garden with a large flat circular stone in the center with a worn seal of the Vishanti painted on it.  
Just beyond the Rock garden was a plot of freshly plowed ground. They found the source of the sound as they watched a figure swing down to chop at the ground with a tool. She wore the same kind of robes seen on the Master in the drawing, though they looked much more worn and the sleeves were torn off at the shoulder, revealing well tanned and strong arms. Her brown hair was pulled back in a sloppy bun that was falling loose, brown was the color, not brunette. He wasn't sure if that was it's actual color or the color of the dirt caught in it. The robes she wore were soaked with sweat and it was obvious she had been out here working for a while. It took the Doctor a moment to realize what he was looking at was not who they were looking for.

     “I don't think that is Master Sion.” He stated bluntly, the first noise they had made upon arrival. The woman started, whipping around to face them, brandishing the hoe defensively despite there still being an entire field between them. She looked more shocked than angry. Her mouth was open in a small 'o' as she stared at tthem.The woman straighted and dropped the hoe hesitantly, reaching towards a staff of twisted wood that was leaned against a large plant-like tree. The staff flew to her fingertips before she nervously started forwards towards them slowly. Hands held aloft placidly, staff at the crook of her arm to show she wasn't attacking, she stopped a fair distance from them and called out with a voice that cracked mid sentence.

     “Who are you? What do you want?”  
Having gotten closer they were able to see her features. High cheekbones and a slightly upturned nose, if the Doctor would use a word to describe her it would be Fey. Strange found himself unable to speak, trying to figure out how old she was by her appearance, so Minoru answered for them.

     “We are from Kamar-Taj, we are trying to Find Master Sion, you have a picture of him in your.... home. Where is he?” the young female master's voice had a sharp edge to it. It was possible this strange woman was an enemy they would have to deal with, but it was confusing. Only Master Sion was supposed to be here, unless the records were wrong. Hamir was being quiet as usual, but he had an air of knowing about him. She wanted badly to shake the old man down for answers. At the mention of Kamar-Taj, the Fey-like womans vibrant green eyes darkened and narrowed. Her posture changed entirely, her unoccupied hand finding her hip as she planted the staff firmly on the ground and let it go. It stayed standing without her assistance. No one paid it any mind and watched the woman

     “Leave. You're too late, Master Sion is gone.” she bit out bitterly and turned her back on them. She was headed back to her work, but the same creature that screamed when they arrived through the portal screamed again, only this time it was much closer. They watched her back tense before she turned back to them and stode back to the staff and plucked it from its resting place. “Get back behind the rock garden if you want to go back to your stupid Kamar-taj.” the girl snapped, passing them and taking her own advice. The thunderous noise that followed had the sorcerer's following her quickly. They followed the woman as she strode confidently through the gardens, taking a different path back than the one they had arrived on.

     Back at the hut once again, the sorcerers weren't given a chance to ask more questions before the girl glared at them with a quick assessment, mostly focusing on Minoru before quickly making an apparent decision. Grunted a quick 'wait here' before ducking into the small establishment. Strange peered into the entrance from where he was, seeing her shuffle around inside near the bed they had seen earlier. She popped out of the doorway stuffing something into the folds of her top.

     “Come. I will take you to Master Sion.” the woman stated, her demeanor much more placid than it had been before, somewhat deflated. The edge was mostly gone. “You were not responsible for his banishment here. I am sorry. I remember you treating him well Hamir... is it Master Hamir now?” she asked eying his robes as she set off at a brisk yet amiable pace.

     Master Hamir let his brows rise. “It is Master now yes, I'm afraid I don't remember you young one... Have we met?” Minoru and Stephen exchanged glances, falling in behind them as they spoke. Doctor Strange was happy to let Hamir take over until they were able to get some answers. The woman explained she had been a student at Kamar-Taj when she was a child. She looked over her shoulder at the other two visitors.

     “You don't look like you were old enough to have had a say in him staying...” The woman said to Minoru with a nod of acknowledgement before she looked to Stephen. His eyebrows rose as she looked him up and down with her piercing green eyes. Her expression was thoughtful and curious. “You... I would have remembered you.” Before he could comment back she had turned her head back around.  
She was leading them back the way they had originally came. Towards the roaring sound of waves in the distance. Strange spoke up anyways.

     “If Master Sion was the one banished, how the hell did you end up out here, what did you do to piss them off?” That drew a snort from the woman ahead.

     “I'm the reason he was caught. I was a kid and playing where I wasn't supposed to actually. I knocked over a pedestal and Master Sion was there to contain and fix the object before the negative energies could escape. He was showing me how he repaired the vase when another master spotted us.” Her voice was clear and guilt free as she spoke, but there was a sudden animosity radiating from Minoru that caused Stephen to turn his head sharply to the Master. She was glaring at the back of the other woman, but the emotion drained away almost as quickly as it had appeared. Stephen would bet ten bucks that something else was at play involving the situation and the female head of the Hong Kong Sanctum. “It took them some time to reach a verdict. He was banished to a room at Kamar-taj for almost a year before they sent him here. It was decided I was no longer to learn there while he remained in case his influence corrupted me somehow.” the woman sounded amused. “My parents decided to keep me at home until I had matured a little more as punishment for breaking a relic in the first place, but just before I turned nine the Ancient One arrived and told us the council had decided that I should no longer be permitted to learn the Arcane Arts at Kamar-Taj. I had seen too much and may have learned something I shouldn't have from Master Sion.” She shook her head. “The Fools.” she muttered.

     Master Minoru explained under her breath to Stephen then. “An Untrained Child with knowledge of the Arcane Arts is chaos waiting to happen. They would be releasing a potential disaster on the world.” The woman ahead of them nodded, listening.

     “Which is why the Ancient One had an idea. She had been against Exiling Master Sion in the first place, and felt the knowledge needed to be preserved. My parents didn't like the idea, but ultimately we decided it was for the best. I was exiled here to learn as Master Sions apprentice. He's taught me everything I know and still manages to teach me something new from time to time. Even way out here.” she said gesturing forward. Now that the long storytime was over, Stephen realized she had practically had to shout the last of it. He was amused a bit and shouted over the noise, stepping over a root.

     “Why aren't you staying with Master Sion out here?” he asked. “Wouldn't it be better to stick together?” he added. He couldn't see her scrunch her nose from where he followed.

     “Too drafty and loud.” She shouted back. “He can keep it.” she added, stepping free of the trees.

They were suddenly in the open. There had been no thinning of foliage or change in light up to that point, but suddenly they were under the light of two suns, and the wind smacked the Masters with a furocity that surprised them and snapped their clothing and the cloak of levitation back against them. It was a breath stealing wind, and an uphill climb from where they were. Their guide never slowed her pace and made her way up. It wasn't a steep climb and the rock was worn away where it was obvious that someone came this way a lot over the years, but the difference in gravitational pull still made it rougher than it should have been. For the first time, Stephen noticed the woman before them was barefoot. Her feet were almost dainty as they confidently led the way forward. He was noticing other things about her as they walked, she wasn't afraid of the plant life when they pushed through the jungle. She sweat just as much as they did, and her clothing looked to be a size too big for her, the pants legs had been trimmed off and the sleeves were torn off it looked like. They were probably hand-me-downs from Master Sion now that he thought of it. She was confident in the surrounding terrain, used her staff less for walking and more for pushing branches out of the way and as a vault when a fallen tree had crossed the path, making it look easy.

  
She never let her guard down, no matter how relaxed she seemed to them. They followed her without speaking now, the roaring sound making it hard to converse anyways. She was leading them towards a large pile of rocks and Stephen had a sinking feeling growing in his stomach. He didn't get to voice his concern when they reached the height of the climb, his voice was taken from him by the view. Half of the sea before them was tainted with the colors of fire, the sunset bleeding reds and purples on half of the sky as well. Above them the sky was still blue on the other side of the large ringed planet where the previously eclipsed sun now was viewable.

  
Stephen walked right to the edge, finding them on a cliff. The roaring of waves sounded hollower here and he peered over the edge, ignoring the other three entirely as their guide created a sound barrier bubble that he stayed back from to check out the view. It looked like the ocean just vanished beneath the rock cliff. It seemed a mile away, but was still so loud up here. He heard a sharp intake of breath as he stepped right off the cliff to check out what was going on exactly. He dropped about twenty feet before letting the Cloak catch him. It was breathtaking, and he hadn't seen the woman vault off the cliff after him a moment later with a look of panic on her face. The water went on for miles and miles under the rock. He could make out a haze on the horizon that could be land of some sort, but he wasn't sure. Massive roots reached down to the water, some connecting to the ocean below. He turned in a full circle, surprised to find himself being watched. Their guide floated a few feet away from him, watching him with a look mixed with relief and irritation. She was perched sidesaddle on her staff, reminding him vaguely of a witch riding a broom. She said nothing and rose back up to rejoin the others. Stephen waited a few more moments, enjoying the breathtaking view before also going back up. When he joined the Sound Barrier, the roar of the waves was cut off and they could speak easily without competition. Master Minoru was kneeling on one knee by the pile of rocks, there as a cloth weighed down with smaller rocks bearing what looked like strips of dried meat and a couple of wind battered flowers. Master Hamir caught Strange's eye and shook his head.

 

Seems they were really too late after all.

 

Strange remained quiet until Minoru stood back up. She left the sound barrier abruptly and headed back towards the forest. Hamir made no move to follow her, explaining to Doctor Strange.

     “Master Sion was her uncle and last remaining family member. She was hoping to tell him of her mother's passing and get to know him a little better on this trip.” he concluded, his eyes turning to their guide who nodded. She had guessed as much it seemed. There had been a family resemblance and she may have remembered an even younger girl than herself at the Kamar-Taj. Stephen on the other hand, eyed the pile of stones critically. It wasn't really big enough to properly contain an entire body unless she had managed to make a hole in the solid stone below. As if reading his thoughts she spoke up beside him.

     “The only thing here is one of his sandals... it was the only thing I could find.” both men stared at her, perplexion mixing with a bit of horror as she continued. “He was taken about four years ago... I think... Time here is a little hard to keep track of” Stephen found he didn't want to know who or what had taken the Master and didn't ask. Master Hamir felt the same. Without Master Sion, they really needn’t stick around, but they did need to find the books. There should be something in them to help, though it wouldn't be as good as having someone who knew what they were doing to help them... the other masters wouldn't be happy, but beggars couldn't be choosers. They stood in silence a bit before she shifted her weight awkwardly, thrusting her hand out between the standing men.

     “Lori Purvis. I don't think I ever mentioned my name.”


	2. Strange Decisions

Chapter 2   
  
    Lori didn't like lying. Master Sion was gone, that was true. Most of what she said was true, but leaving out information was the same as lying wasn’t it? She hadn’t told the full story. Or that she had been trying to fix the relic on her own before Master Sion picked up on that particular current of magic she was tugging on. Lori wasn’t gifted in her own eyes, but harnessing magical energies and enchanting items came entirely too easy for her as a child. She was a natural conductor for energy, it was in her blood, but hadn’t been seen in her family for many generations. Master Sion had caught that much from her before hand and had tried to steer her in the right direction before something got out of control. Breaking the vase had been an honest accident, but it had turned into a lesson that got them both in trouble. Her teacher had covered for her and taken the brunt of the punishment. The Ancient One had known all along and had allowed it to happen. She knew something that she hadn't shared with the rest of the Masters, for some reason she needed Lorilie to learn the art of Relic creation and repair. Lori believed she simply saw the sense in having someone trained in case something happened.... and here they were asking for help from her master. Lori had felt betrayed by her own parents when they agreed to send her away, but learning under Master Sion had been the greatest thing she could have ever done. They had become like family here on this planet, more so than her own family ever was. She had still loved them. She was as normal as any other sorcerer, she knew everyone had their strengths and weaknesses, a couple hundred years ago and there would have been dozens of other Enchanters with her…. Though that was probably what caused this mess in the first place. Too many magical artifacts.

She blew her straggling bangs from her face as they both awkwardly bowed their heads in greeting rather than take her hand. Master Hamir she already knew, but her eyes went round at Stephens introduction.

“Doctor Stephen Strange...” he said motioning to himself before motioning towards Master Hamir. “I think you already know him.”

     Lori gapped at the man for a moment with pure shock across her features that caused Stephen to feel a little self conscious. She spoke in a quiet voice filled with wonder. 

    “They have PHDS in the Arcane Arts now?” At the nearly whispered question, Strange almost rolled his eyes, but checked himself and explained that he wasn't a Magic doctor, just an actual Doctor that helped people. He was miffed when she seemed to be pretty unimpressed with that fact. Hamir added in that he was a Master as well and they started back towards the cover of trees and the Hut.

Upon reaching her home, Lori stiffened slightly to find Minoru going through her things. There wasn't anything she had to hide, but the lack of manners was a shock. The woman was paging through books and dismissing them or adding them to a pile. There weren't but a couple dozen in the small building lined along her bedside wall, but it still made her cringe outwardly as a few were just dropped onto her bedroll and one on the floor like discarded junk. She didn't interfere with the womans search however though her displeasure was plain on her sleeve. The two men stood away from the building speaking in hushed tones as she watched until she spoke again.

“If you tell me what you're looking for, I can help.” her voice was a little gravely as she tried not to glare as Minoru rifled through her bedding and lifted her meager mattress, unknowingly ruining the comfortable way Lori had arranged the grasses inside. Master Mirodu jerked her head up at the suggestion. She didn't look guilty, just thoughtful. The other two peered inside from the doorway, the building too small to contain them all.

“Master Sion was supposedly exiled here with books about Relic creation. Do you know of them.” Minoru asked, straightening the bedding she had just mussed up. Lori eyed her with her arms folded across her chest a moment.

“Why do you need them? You're not going to destroy them are you?” The exiled young woman looked grave as she questioned them, her eyes cutting to the men in the doorway.

Minoru frowned. “No, we need them now. We needed Master Sions help, but without him... the books will have to do.”   
Lori snorted.

“Kamar-Taj exiled a man here for years, declaring him and his knowledge illegal until you all discover you need it yourselves. Like throwing away trash only to realize it was something important, but it's gone when you go back for it.” her eyes narrowed and a smirk formed on her lips even as her fists clenched. “It's good karma.” she slowly shook her head at the grim line Minorus lips had set into. “I know it wasn't you three, but you must see how this looks.” She battled with anger and grief on her person. Her knuckles showing white until she took a deep breath and seemingly released it all with the exhale. She leaned back on her heels a second before edging around Minoru in the tight quarters and shooing her away from the bed with a sigh. She squat next to it and swiped her hand over the dried grasses and herbs scattered over the floor, using a bit of magic to blow the stuff away as well as remove the dirt. She slipped her finger into a dip of the floor and pulled up with a grunt of effort, surprising the other three as a narrow bookcase rose up out of the ground. She struggled with it a moment, searching with her bare foot as she reached her full height until she found a small leaver and pushed it, causing eight pegs to pop out of the bottom of the shelf, preventing it from sinking back into his hiding space. It was only about as tall as Lori herself, had it been any taller she wouldn't have been able to secure the case properly. Stephen glanced around the primitive hut with new appreciation, wondering what other secrets this tiny place kept. The shelf contained books of course though not many, secured into the thing with a rope across each shelf, but there were also stacks of papers and a couple of items. Lori fondly stroked a finger over one of the bindings before leaning back. The few books in the shelf were thick with simple bindings and most looked ancient though well cared for.

Minoru looked relieved as she reached out to snag one of the books carefully while Lori spoke again. “You know, if you don't want to take the entire collection with you now, you could tell me what's going on and I can help. I can find the book for you faster than you searching on your own.” she reached forward to pluck the one next to the empty spot Minoru had created. Minoru in turn scoffed slightly.

“That sounds like a fun way of saying, 'Let me read the illegal stuff to help you.' if you ask me.” Strange said from the doorway. Lori turned to look at him over her shoulder with raised eyebrows.

“It's only illegal on earth. I've already read all of these.” she admitted turning back to the shelf. Minoru was staring at her. “Master Sion had me copy each one several times when he was teaching me.” she jabbed a forefinger at one in particular. “That ones the most boring. Nobody has used portal wands since the creation of the sling ring so everything in it is irrelevant. We've surpassed our own magical technology leaving a lot of knowledge obsolete or useless. Whenever I got on his nerves or acted out, he'd make me sit down with it and copy it.” she shuddered slightly. She realized nobody was replying and they were just staring at her and she shut her jaw, caught rambling again.

    Stephen Strange eyed the woman. Despite her obvious dislike of them going through her belongings and being in her space and the fact she seemed to hate Kamar-taj in general... she had offered to help them twice now. Selflessly.... She didn't seem to want anything in return for her offered help either, other than maybe for them to be gone and to leave her the hell alone. 

  "So... How much did he teach you exactly?" Strange asked, an idea forming in his head that the others would probably agree with. The fact that a child had been sent into exile and grown up here in this hellish location grated on their nerves as well as his own.... or so he was inclined to believe. When Lori admitted Master Sion had taught her everything he could on Eldritch magic at the beginning and they worked on relic creation and repair and other enchantments. He had only known the basics and they had discovered more together in the texts. She had practiced most of the spells growing up on the strange planet. 

     Lori didn't go over the fact neither could really function for the first month or two, the change of gravity and atmosphere made them sick and weak. She was dumbstruck when the handsome doctor opened his mouth next.

    "You should come back with us." he declared. When the other two Masters nearly snapped their necks at his suggestion he shrugged. "What, we could use all the help we can get. She's not Master Sion? _So what_. She could be the key we need to patch the world barrier and keep beings like Dormammu from gaining entry." He pulled away from the doorway and dropped his arms from where they had been crossed over his chest. "We need her." He was pretty happy with his little mini-speech until Lori frowned, her eyes sparking with anger again. This girl was a freaking rollercoaster.

   "No. I won't go back to Kamar-taj. I won't spit on Master Sion's memory like that." she shoved the book she held in her hands back onto the shelf. "Take what you need and go." She started to storm out through the open wall to the outdoor kitchen since Strange was blocking the doorway, but she didn't go far. She just leaned against the wall just outside, looking over all the gardens. Hamir stopped Stephen from saying anything, sensing the young woman was fighting over something with herself.

    The older man spoke almost thoughtfully, looking pointedly at the Doctor. "What if you didn't have to stay at Kamar-Taj?" He nodded when Strange silently fumed as he realized where this was going. Pointing outside in her direction and then to himself. He threw his hands up in exasperation when the old man nodded. He gave in though, because it made sense. Stephen spoke up then, adding to Hamirs question.

   "You can stay with me at the New York Sanctum and probably the London Sanctum while we work on the problem there." he resigned, seeing Master Mirodu making a cut throat sign under her neck saying there was no way she was going to be welcome at the Hong Kong Sanctum, it was over crowded anyways. She was a popular Master and had several apprentices staying with her there for additional training. There was no response for a moment before Lori quietly responded.

   "Just what is this problem....? You haven't told me what's wrong yet. Why you're so desperate for this knowledge that was deemed too dangerous in the first place...." she called back through the door.

    Stephen rubbed the back of his neck, disgusted at the amount of sweat he was building and he shoo'd the cloak away to prevent it from soaking as well. "Honestly, it's a really long story, but the London sanctum was destroyed." That elicited a gasp from Lori as she stood outside, but he continued. "The entire sanctum, Kaboom. Artifacts damaged and on the loose, many going haywire though we're able to contain most of them within small shields.... Turns out the entire buildings are giant relics and that's how they make the key points of the world barrier keeping our planet safe from magical interference. It's also how they change and interact with us. We've rebuilt the building according to the blueprints, but no one knows how to perform any of the enchantments or spells to return it to its place among the key points." He rocked back on his heels, the cloak shifting back away from him and his out of character movement. The doctor tried to peer around the side of the small building after she didn't respond right away and they heard her let out a sigh and mutter. He found himself staring at something else on the other side of the gardens. Beyond the field, the tree-plant things were shaking pretty hard and Lori didn't even seem to notice as she grumbled.

    "Dammit..... and I just finished that stupid field...."

    "I think that field is about to be trampled by something very big." Steven commented off handedly. "Should we be going?" Lori's eyes snapped back into focus and she glowered at the movement in the distance.

    "Y'all probably drew it here... Leaving the safe zone when you came to the field and all, the barrier here hasn't been repaired in years, it's too big for me to fix alone. Didn't bother to tamp down your magical presence any did you?" she scolded in motion, when she came back into the hut, her eyes were light and her expression mischievous. She dramatically bemoaned the coming loss of her crops as she started pulling books off the shelves and bundling them together with twine she pulled from a shelf over the door, making Stephen wrinkle his nose as she reached over him. She didn't exactly smell like a flower... or maybe she did. For all he knew, the flowers on this planet smelled like sweat, body odor and something akin to mildew. Probably a result of the soil she was working in when they discovered her. At the earth shaking roar that sounded like it was just outside the hut, the Masters helped her bundle the rest of the books until they had eight decent sized parcels. It was quick work, and Lori dashed around the inside of the tiny building throwing what little she had in a small bag made of an animal skin none of them recognized. She hesitated in front of the wooden flute, one hand hesitantly reaching forward for it. Her eyes hardened and she grabbed it while Minoru carefully removed the thorns holding Master Sions picture in place. Hamir and Stephen were outside re-opening the portal back to earth back in the same place they came through so Minoru and Lori had to run. 

    They had barely cleared the hut when there was a cracking noise in the air and an angry yell from Minoru. Lori skidded and reversed, dropping her small bag and the final parcel of books she’d had in her hands. She slammed her staff down on the thorny tendril of a scaled tail that had attached to Minorus ankle and whipped it around in the next instant to whip it across the face of a creature resembling something of a panther though more of a nightmare. Four long skinny legs ribbed with muscle folded more like a spider's legs than an animals as it crouched and screamed its fury at them. Black oily spittle flying in its rage, the creature was covered in oily black and brown scales with horns or thorns spiking up from its joints like broken glass, it was roughly the size of a clydesdale horse with a long body and a snaking barbed tail covered in the same dark glass like thorns. 

     “What the hell is that!?” Stephen shouted, having left Hamir to hold the portal open when he heard Miroru scream. He gripped the injured womans arm and hefted her up, supporting her weak side though she looked more annoyed than grateful. 

     “Baby ugly cat demon” Lori snapped, twisting her hands on her staff causing glowing golden runes to light up in rings where her hands were, she hefted it in a stabbing position with both hands as a familiar glow of eldritch magic lit up in an intricate mandela at the end pointed towards the creature. “Best go before mama comes, RUN.” she shouted and thrusts the staff forward, blocking the demon as it leapt towards Stephen and Minoru. It was thrown back upon contact and there was a sizzling smell of cooking flesh as the thing screamed in pain. Doctor Strange wasted no time in throwing himself into action, running with Minoru. 

     Their hefty head start and leaving their newest companion behind to fight the creature led them to make good time, but Lori quickly outpaced them, snatching up the bag and bundle of books and catching up as the sound of crunching and a roar filled the air. She grabbed Minorus other arm and charged forward to assist. Lori was much more used to the atmosphere and gravity but the other two were soaked through and while they were extremely fit on earth, this place wore on a person newly arrived.

     Hamirs expression was nervous as he watched behind them when they approached, but he waved them through and they didn’t stop, dashing as a group through the Kamar-taj with the portal closing behind them. Lorelei started speaking rapidly pointing towards Minorus ankle, but none of it made sense though the strange wheezing she was suddenly doing. Stephen passed the injured woman over to another master with instructions to treat it as a poisoned limb and contain it. Magical healing was effective in some cases, drawing out poisons is one of those. However, he turned his gaze on the newcomer as her eyes went wide and she clutched at Hamirs sleeve, her breathing was erratic and her eyes were dilating before she started coughing violently. Stephen gripped her by the back of her neck and pushed her head down, folding her and frowning as she coughed. She was simultaneously choking on the air and going into a panicked shock. The Doctor caught her as her world went dark and she blacked out, barely wheezing. Something was very wrong.   
  


 

  
  
  


**Author's Note:**

> I'm an avid fan of Doctor Strange and grew up reading his tales. The idea for this story started circulating in my head after the movie came out in 2016. Reading the comics, I didn't remember seeing any of the Masters create new relics or artifacts... nor do they don't exactly show the London Sanctum being repaired in the movies, so I thought I'd play around with "what ifs". I've only just started to write it down, but I already have a sequel planned.  
> Please pardon my mess, I'm writing this entirely from my phone.


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